A Different Daddy
by Thozmp Corris
Summary: AU. It's all about choices. Sometimes it's a simple as a change of a family name, other times it has more far reaching consequences then anyone can tell. A different father, a different life.
1. Prolog

Disclaimer: All copy righted material belongs to their respective owners. Any material not copyrighted is of my own creation unless explicitly stated.

I'd also like to thank Miriam1 for helping me with editing.

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It was late at night on October 31st as a cat was watching a particular house when the street lights 'mysteriously' went out. Oddly enough the cat seemed to expect this and relaxed its rigid posture as a man with long white hair, a beard that was tucked into his belt, and robes colorful and loud enough to stop a blind bus driver appeared beside the cat's position.

"You know Minerva, if you relax, I'm sure you could add years to your life." The man said to the woman who had taken the cat's place.

Said woman seemed to ignore the man's words as she spoke, "I've been watching them for a good part of the day, Albus. While I don't dislike them, something about them seems… off." Minerva frowned as if the inaccuracy left a foul taste in her mouth.

"Off, Minerva?" Albus asked amusedly.

"Yes," Minerva continued to frown, "I've seen the woman and the son, but I've yet to see the man. And earlier, the child was playing in the yard with a throwing toy, almost every time, it would hit me, or come near enough. I'd think he was doing it on purpose, except he never threw it _at_ me. Yes, Albus, something is decidedly off…"

Albus frowned a moment before shrugging, "Off or not, the woman is still his only living relative left…"

Minerva sighed, "I can't say I object, but I'm not wholeheartedly behind the idea. What about his heritage? How will he learn who he is?"

Albus produced an envelope at this question, "I have a letter prepared—"

"Albus! A letter?! Really now. You can't expect to explain everything in a letter." Minerva interrupted, scandalized.

"It will have to do." Albus tried to assure the woman, "It also contains information on how to contact me should it be necessary."

Somewhat mollified, Minerva released her argument… for now. With no more to be said, the two waited for two more, and with a tearful goodbye on the part of one, three departed leaving but a babe behind to be taken care of by the 'Off' family.

On the morning of November 1st, the door to Number 4 Privet Drive opened to reveal a one Harry Potter on the front step of the home of a one Petunia Seekan.

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A/N: Comments and suggestions always welcome, flames are acceptable if you can give actual feedback on what it is I need to do to improve the story, and I don't mean things like, "Make it better!" If anyone would like to Beta read any one of my other stories please let me know.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All copy righted material belongs to their respective owners. Any material not copyrighted is of my own creation unless explicitly stated.

I'd also like to thank Miriam1 for helping me with editing.

* * *

Harry's first year in the Seekan household was a rather hectic one, even though he was too young to really know it. When Petunia first found the little boy that November morning, she scooped him up and fled into the house, rushing to her husband, Bryan.

While she had never reconciled with her sister, Petunia, after much coaching by Bryan and some selective counseling, had finally gotten over her long held resentment and jealousy. So, in another universe where she would have transferred such negative emotions onto the boy; now though, she could only feel pity at the thought of how much the boy had lost in the course of a single night.

Petunia found her husband, and handed him the letter, informing him about what she knew of the situation as well. As he read, his face hardened with some undecipherable emotion, though probably not at the boy if the mutterings of "that blasted old coot" were anything to go by. Once he finished the letter, he turned to the small metal trash bin he kept in his study, and with his back to his wife he held the letter, allowing his anger to build and turn to a heated inferno that lit the letter on fire as he dropped it in the bin. Turning back to his wife, he let his anger fade and gave her a soft smile, "Sorry Pet, looks like we're going to be moving soon. If you'd leave Harry with me, and go explain to young Randal, I'd appreciate it very much."

Petunia only nodded as she gently handed off Harry and went to find her son. Bryan waited until she was out of the room before examining Harry, first looking into his too green eyes before moving up to the young child's scar, muttering to himself, "Gonna have to do something about that…" Giving the boy a once over, somewhat surprised the boy hadn't cried out yet, he spoke once more, this time his voice carried a strange quality, "Sleep now, little one," and the child obeyed.

Bryan sighed before he moved to pick up the phone, frowning for a moment before dialing. Bryan sighed once more as he waited for the person on the other end to answer; life was suddenly becoming very complicated.

Bryan heard a click on the phone telling him someone picked up. "Hey, Asher. It's Bryan. Listen, I need a favor… no, not that kind of favor. I need a new place… yeah… wizards, if you can believe it… no it isn't about me, rather I got a new resident in the house, wife's nephew, he's the reason for the attention… No, I'm not going to ditch the kid… Because I'm not! I can take care of anything unexpected; I just want to limit how much _**is**_ unexpected… Listen, I just need a new place… pretty sure Petunia would like to stay in England if you can arrange it, but I'll go anywhere… yeah… thanks, call back when you have a place."

Bryan hung up the phone with another sigh and a thought that he'd been sighing a lot today, but then again, the situation seemed to call for it. Turning to the sleeping child Bryan gave him a wry grin, "Barely over a year old and already causing trouble…" Once more the older man's eyes drifted to the still red and angry scar that adorned the infant's forehead, "What to do, what to do…" Bryan's hand slowly drifted to the scar as if feeling around through darkness, until it rested lightly on the injured patch of skin.

"Very odd…" Bryan said, mostly to himself, as he began to gently rub the mark, "perhaps… might work…" The man began to hum gently as he continued to stroke the scar, and underneath the Bryan's hand, Harry started to squirm a little before settling once more.

---

Within a week the Seekan household had been packed up and moved to a new location. Within a month there was a brand new family in Number 4 Privet Drive, and while they were happy with the house they did have a rather unpleasant surprise in the form of a bucket hiding in one of the closets. Now normally a bucket is nothing to be upset about but this bucket held a most putrid and vile sludge that none of the family could tell what it was. Unsure of how to properly dispose of the loathsome substance, the father buried in the back corner of the backyard; and after sometime would discover that nothing would grow on that spot.

A few weeks after the new family had moved into Number 4 Privet Drive, Arabella Figg moved into the neighborhood, never knowing that her intended target had moved out just ahead of her.

---

Petunia was concerned. In all honesty, she knew that much of her husband's past was a mystery. When they were younger and only dating, he would disappear, sometimes for days, weeks, or even months, but he'd show up again, with little to no explanation and pick up where they'd left off. One day, she found him at her doorstep, looking the worse off in a fight, but smiling so widely and with such obvious pleasure she doubted if he felt his pain at all. That was the night he first proposed to her.

She hadn't said no at that time, but told him to go to a hospital and get patched up before she would consider a lifelong commitment like that. After all, it's just not done to be engaged and have your fiancé die just a few minutes after. A week later he proposed a second time, and having had time to think about just how much she wanted to be with the mysterious Bryan, she accepted.

He never disappeared again, and every time she asked about it, he said that he was through with that part of his life and she needn't worry about him running off again. He actually settled down somewhat, and while she never knew what his previous job was—another thing he said she "didn't need to worry about"—he got a new on as a writer, a novelist under various pseudonyms.

They had been happy, and while occasionally some of Bryan's former "co-workers" as he called them would show up from time to time, there was nothing out of the ordinary. But with the arrival of Harry, the sudden move to a house practically prepared for them in under a week's notice, and the way that Bryan had went about it all, well… it brought up some of Petunia's old concerns.

She knew that Bryan kept in contact with some of his old friends from his "previous life," but it concerned her to think that they could do something like this so easily…

So of course she confronted him about it a few days after they were moved into their new home. He seemed to be expecting it since his reply was, "My dear, little flower. Trust my when I say that there are things that you shouldn't concern yourself with."

Petunia huffed, "Really now, Bryan. I believe I have every right to be concerned. This is just not normal, ordinary people cannot have this sort of thing set up by 'a few friends.' Please, tell me something."

Bryan peered into Petunia's eyes for a long moment before giving a little chortle, "Are you sure, there are things I know you'd sleep easier without knowing…"

Petunia's expression hardened, "Bryan, give me something! You can't believe that I wouldn't at the very least wonder about your friends, you, and all of this." She waved her hand at their surroundings, trying to encompass not only the house but the situation that placed them in it. "Were you a spy? Black ops something or other? Should I be concerned that some nut is going to try and get to you through me or Randal?"

Bryan let out a bark of laughter, "My orchid, there is no nut that will try and 'get at you.'" Petunia thought she might have heard him mutter, "At least not anymore" but she couldn't be sure, "And you can rest assured, that so long as you are my wife, I will not allow any horrible thing which you could imagine to happen to this family." Bryan pulled his wife into a powerful embrace, "If you believe nothing else, believe that."

Petunia hugged him just as fiercely, "I do…" and as he released her, she pulled back enough to look him in the eye, "But that still doesn't explain anything."

Bryan stared at his wife, almost as if memorizing her features before giving a heavy sigh. He had to give her something… "I wasn't a spy. I was more of an… outside consultant. Sometimes certain… groups needed help… help that they couldn't afford to be associated with. That's where I came in."

Petunia's eyes grew wide as he explained but she didn't say anything, she didn't know what to say.

"But as I said, that part of my life is over. Unfortunately, I've got to talk to some people that I worked with, concerning this whole thing with Harry. I refuse to abandon him, but I need to know more about this situation…"

Petunia drew him into another tight hug, gripping him as if threatening to never let him go, "You're going to disappear again." It wasn't a question.

Bryan swallowed, took a breath and tried to reply in a lighthearted tone, "I'll be gone only a day or three. Five on the outside. I'll be back before you know it."

Petunia still refused to let go of him not saying a word. Bryan pulled her away so he could look directly into her eyes. "I will come back."

---

Bryan was waiting in the middle of a forest. He didn't want to be there. He should be with his wife and son. He should be living the easy life, thinking of new stories to write, raising his kid, "working" with Petunia to get more kids. He shouldn't be in the middle of a freaking forest waiting for information that might not even pan out.

A small sound brought Bryan's mind back to where he was, as well as brought a pistol to his hand and pointed at the direction the sound came from. Peering into the darkness made by the dense leafy canopy that was successfully bloating out the last vestiges of light from a sinking sun, he slowly put his gun away. "Enhr"

A dark chestnut colored centaur stepped out of the darkness, and while not pleased at the meeting, he was not as displeased as he could be, "Seekan."

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A/N: Comments and suggestions always welcome, flames are acceptable if you can give actual feedback on what it is I need to do to improve the story, and I don't mean things like, "Make it better!" If anyone would like to Beta read any one of my other stories please let me know.


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